One of my pet peeves is how loud restaurants have become. Restaurant reviews in our local paper come with decibel levels, so you know what you're getting into. There are some superb restaurants around here, but they're also ones that we won't go back to because we can barely hear our dining companions, or each other. We have emerged hoarse from an evening out.

Here's an article explaining why this has happened: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/11/how-restaurants-got-so-loud/576715/

Poor grammar...

Well, at least you know going in!

I've not seen that sign, but there's at least one restaurant in my town that is unpleasantly loud. It's not the music, it's echo-y voices if more than a few people are talking at once. Like Bookwoman's article points out, it's design with zero thought to acoustics.

There is a Buffalo Wild Wings near here...the food is really good, and the

service is wonderful...the noise is so bad, we can only stand to go there about

once a year...if we are in an especially good mood. :) It has TV's (all on Sports

Channels) around the room, also set at "Loud". We get take-out more often.

How nice of them to post that. I would make a U-turn at the door. They only seem to want noisy people so they saved me time and money.

Very clever, they warn you and in doing so give you choices. One of which isn't to complain.

No one should expect to see signs or advertising phrases with good grammar akin to what you'd submit to an English teacher. Remember the very successful Apple ad "Think Different"?

Noise is a pet peeve of mine as well. We often go into the city since both DD's live there. We have found only one restaurant that I feel is acceptable. But, because we are "hip" and "with it" we always are good sports.

In my area however, I will only go to tried ad true quiet places.

A few other thoughts-

Sports bars with a crowd watching an event, even if it's something normal like just a regular season important game for a local team, are as loud as loud can be other than at the sports event itself. You shouldn't expect otherwise.

I avoid chain and franchise restaurants but I'd think you might expect those to have better soundproofing since they're planned and designed by professionals in a corporate real estate department doing nothing but restaurant construction.

Also, don't forget that restaurants with lousy food are often empty and so on the quiet side. That's not a better choice than a busy place that's a bit noisier than desired.

I was thinking the same thing Graywings...working and constantly have to shout in order to do your work, that would be exhausting.

Going in the other direction for restaurant workers - the majority of states have banned smoking in restaurants and bars so no spending a work shift in smoke chambers inhaling second hand smoke and no going home smelling like an ashtray.

Other than sports bars/grills with multiple TV's going - or kids' places (thank God we long ago outgrew Chuck E. Cheese!!) - I have not experienced overly loud restaurants. Except for those that will do the birthday thing wth a gong, clapping and multiple servers singing, etc. Most have a very reasonable noise level and some are downright hushed.

"Remember the very successful Apple ad "Think Different"? "

Yes I do. It is right up there with the ever-popular "Drive Safe "

Poor grammar times two.

A friend and I regularly used to go out to dinner. We did it not just for the food, but to have a good visit. We tried a new restaurant that had opened at the end of my street. The food was excellent but it was so loud we could not hear ourselves think, let alone hear one another. We did ask to be moved further from the bar, but it was still loud. We're not their "demographic" so we've never returned. Tomorrow, we'll celebrate her birthday had a nearby restaurant that i very quiet and filled with our generation.

I went to Red Robin once. Never again. The noise was awful!

I think it’s a two pronged problem. Modern restaurants tend to be decorated in all hard surfaces, which makes them naturally louder as all noises bounce off the surfaces. And people theses days seem to be louder, no one feels the need to keep their conversations private. And if you have a large table of people, often they seem to get louder and louder as each person tries to shout over everyone else, instead of conversing with those closest to them.

We once went as a small family group to an amazingly noisy restaurant, where it was expected that diners would share from a number of different dishes rather than each eat a plated meal. Trying to discuss what dishes to choose was virtually impossible due to the noise - I think we resorted to pointing to selections on a passed around menu - and even talking to the person next door was a lost cause. The food was good but we didn’t return.

Ah yes, the 'small plates' movement. While it was great fun when it started, I sometimes get tired of the table-wide negotiations over what to order. Then again, you do get to sample lots of different dishes.

Not exactly, it was an Indian restaurant where it’s the norm in Indian (as with most Asian cuisines) to share a number of dishes.

Ah, got it. I love Indian food, but unfortunately we don't have very good Indian restaurants around here.

You were warned. How is that a problem? Plenty of people(not me) enjoy the noise. Good for them.

Some time ago son took me to a sushi restaurant ... we ordered, a number of times ... on an i-pad.

Don't remember the decibel levels - dont think they were distractingly high.

ole joyful

There is a BBQ joint in Kansas City called Gates that has been around for 75 years. You wait in line to order your food and then take it to the table. When you enter the door the order taker shouts 'Hi, may I help you?' and you give your order and the order taker then hollers the order back to the kitchen. During the busy lunch hour it is very loud in there with all the shouting but it's expected and part of the 'ambiance'.

Another very good BBQ joint in town that only has enough seating for about 20 people has a sign on their door that reads 'Eat it and beat it'.

I rarely eat out, so I haven't encountered this. However, when did musicians (or the people who listen to them) decide that music had to be over-the-top LOUD to be appreciated? This goes for jazz, rock, pop, ethnic--and even the folk duo who performed at an outdoor party I attended last weekend. We gave up trying to converse at our table.

I have to ask, what made it loud? Was it music or just the people? I can't stand when they play the music loud, but loud people is even stranger.

I also will not go to Red Robin again. The food was good, but even though the place was more than 1/2 empty, it was impossible to carry on a conversation without shouting.

Had the same experience at a local brewhouse which has since gone out of business. With a large group, several of the orders were wrong because the servers couldn't understand what we were saying.

Other than sports bars I've found that the noisiest restaurants are the big chain steak houses. I don't know why that is. We seldom go to one unless we happen to get a gift certificate to one. I love a good steak but I'd rather stay home and cook it myself. But other than those it seems to me like the popular restaurants are actually quieter than they were back in the day when we were young and going out more often.

I agree Elmer. We have replaced tobacco smoke pollution with noise pollution in restaurants.

Rob, thinking of the "too loud to enjoy" restaurant here, it wasn't just peoples' voices, it was the clash-clatter-bang of dishes, utensils, etc that was so unpleasant. People talking can be a roar that can be tuned out, but unpredictable cRasSHs are hard to ignore.

Our Red Robin is very loud and since it seems everyone else's is as well it would seem they are loud by design. I might wonder why but they seem to stay buys so people must like it. Hmmm, I realize I can only assume it is loud, haven't eaten there in years.

I've always hated noisy restaurants. When I was working and we'd go out to celebrate birthdays, retirements, etc we usually picked a local restaurant. I'd invariably get a seat either near the band (if they had live music) or near the kitchen or bathroom door. i have become slightly hard of hearing, so I'd spend the evening asking people to repeat themselves. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" I would appreciate knowing aplace is noisy ahead of time. And, yes, i would head elsewhere, unless the food was fantastic.

rob333, there had to be music (not a band), but it wasn't loud music that stuck out, it was more of the people talking so loudly to talk over the noise. Just super busy and lots going on. It was just weird...my thought was how could anyone really enjoy eating here when you literally couldn't hold a conversation across a small table.

We have a circle of friends, all couples, that enjoy going out to dinner as a group. I have gotten less enthused in recent years, and the loudness factor is a big part of it. When we get up to 8 people up it seems like we lose the ability to all socialize during the meal. If you get put at a round table there is no way you can talk to whomever is across from you, so you generally can converse with people on your immediate right and left. It has led us to doing dinners with just one other couple, or doing a potluck at home. It’s too bad because we are finally at the point where we don’t need to get babysitters and can afford nice restaurants.